AFTER a night like this, Liverpool must be thankful UEFA have changed the format of this competition to the 'get beat, but have another five chances' league.

Harsher judges could claim the Reds don't deserve the opportunity to rectify the wrongdoings of a dreadful performance in Valencia.

But the fact this is merely a dodgy lift-off on a long haul flight across Europe means Liverpool can still emerge from Group B unscathed.

A tannoy announcer said just prior to full time he hoped the Liverpool fans enjoyed their stay here. We can only assume he was taking the mick.

The sooner everyone forgets about this sorry display, the better. Or maybe it shouldn't be forgotten so easily. It can be replayed to represent everything a European awayday shouldn't be.

It will take straw clutching of a monstrous scale to take anything positive from it.

The best I can come up with is at least the margin of defeat wasn't more than two. The next performances can't be as bad as this and Valencia are obviously the finest team in the group. Stupid as it sounds, this defeat doesn't matter much beyond wounded pride.

Beat Basle next week and it's game on again.

That's the good bit over. Now the comes the reality.

The first half was an embarrassment and decided the outcome of the game. It was just as well Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares was wearing a hideously loud jersey, otherwise we wouldn't have noticed he was on the pitch.

What made things worse was the European Player of the Year, who would at least have given the Valencia defence something to worry about, had to sit and endure it with the rest of us.

Michael Owen (right) was born to play in matches like this. Leaving him on the bench once may allow the politically correct term 'rested' to be used. But when it happens twice on the run, the only word which can apply is 'dropped'.

There's a time and place to leave Owen out, and Gerard Houllier is correct to do so now and again for both the player and club's sake. Away at Bolton or home to West Brom is fair enough. But away to Valencia? Don't think so.

The Valencia players, who were so scared of Owen they made a point of saying they weren't, must have been firing the champagne corks when they saw the teamsheet and their possible nemesis didn't have his name on it.

Call it simplistic, but against the top teams surely you must always select your best players? Given this was the toughest venue Liverpool would visit in the group, it was an incredible decision and it backfired terribly.

Owen's omission looked even more bizarre when the man in form, Milan Baros, also returned to the bench. El Hadji Diouf hasn't settled yet and it didn't do him any favours playing against opposition of this calibre.

That said, Ronaldo could have been in attack for Liverpool during a first half from hell, and it's difficult to see what difference it would have made.

Valencia outplayed, outclassed and out-thought a Liverpool side which was a pale imitation of the one which has so stubbornly frustrated Europe's elite.

They were timid in every department. Defensively vulnerable, there was little protection from the midfield and, aside from the toil of Emile Heskey, nothing was happening in attack, either. All in all, it was atrocious.

Valencia deserve some credit, of course, for the manner they dismantled Liverpool's strategy with some wonderful one- touch football.

They are a fantastic side. The Spanish League makes a laughing stock of those buffoons who claim the Premiership is the best in the world. It isn't and, as champions, Valencia are symbolic of the gap English football still has to bridge.

The threats of an opener had already been made before Aimer struck a goal of some beauty 17 minutes into the game. A series of one-twos undid Liverpool's left flank, and the midfielder kept his poise to fire low to Jerzy Dudek's right.

The only consolation was it had taken so long. We hoped it may provoke a response. It didn't.

The reply was timid, although Heskey (left) almost grabbed an undeserved equaliser just short of the half hour when he latched onto Jamie Carragher's through ball. After dribbling around Canizares, his shot ran agonisingly across goal. It was as close Liverpool came in a first half which couldn't end quickly enough.

If we thought the Heskey chance signalled the start of a Reds revival, we were wrong. Instead Valencia doubled their lead.

John Carew, supposedly a man with a dodgy knee, held off Salif Diao's challenge to tee up Baraja 20 yards from goal. Diao is no centre half. The sublime finish ended any doubts about the outcome.

Had referee Herbert Fandel spotted a foul by Sami Hyypia on Aimar in the box, the margin may have been greater by half time.

Liverpool's defence, so often the foundation of their victories, was reduced to rubble. Only when Henchoz and Babbel are fit again do you sense the solidity will return.

Djimi Traore's inexperience showed, too, although he'll have learned a lot about European football and the Klu Klux Klan followers who attend these games. There was just one incident of racist chanting - one too many.

The sight of three substitutes warming up at half time revealed everything about Houllier's state of mind.

Owen came on 45 minutes too late, and aided by another tidy display by Bruno Cheyrou there was a vast improvement in the second half.

It still wasn't enough to unduly trouble Canizares, though. Cheyrou almost capitalised when Dietmar Hamann's free-kick wasn't cleared. A Murphy volley also gave the keeper something to handle. Apart from that, Owen should have had a penalty in the last minute.